Jayprakash Narayan, an Indian Administrative Service-officer-turned-activist, will contest the forthcoming assembly elections from Kukatpally constituency in Hyderabad.
Narayan, popularly known as JP, will contest as the candidate of Lok Satta, the party he had launched in 2006, almost ten years after he quit the civil service and undertook a mission to fight corruption.
Addressing the Lok Satta meeting in Kukatpally on Saturday, Narayan, a doctor by profession, said, "I am taking my first step from this constituency".
"Our main goal is to cleanse politics of corruption because corruption is more dangerous than terrorism," he said.
He urged educated youth and women to come forward and join politics. "Sitting at home and criticising the corruption and criminalisation of politics is not enough," he said.
Lok Satta has not entered into any alliances with other parties and has decided to field its own candidates from as many constituencies as possible. The party has adopted the system of primaries for the selection of candidates by its members from the grass root level.
Before launching the political party, Narayan was the national coordinator of Lok Satta, which was then a non governmental organisation. He campaigned on the issues of empowerment of people and eradication of corruption from public life.
G Pratibha Rao, who has played an important role in the establishment of the reputed LV Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad, is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad.